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Red Sox fans donate to St. Jude, ask for wins

St. Jude founder Danny Thomas poses with the statue of St. Jude Thaddeus that sits in front of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Down three games to zero in baseball's American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox seemed to be a hopeless cause.

That's when Dr. Claude Curran, a psychiatrist from Rhode Island, turned to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes and asked people to give donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the hopes that the Red Sox would finally win a World Series.

"I can't go through another season," Curran told his wife. "Every year it is the same emotional roller coaster. We need divine intervention."

Curran was referring to the Curse of the Bambino, the mythical spell that many believe had prevented the Red Sox from winning baseball's championship game for 86 years, ever since the team sold the Bambino, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees.

Curran called a friend of his who is a priest and asked about obtaining a statue of St. Jude to put in his brother-in-law's restaurant. "We are going to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and St. Jude will bless the Red Sox," Curran said he told the priest.

Four hours later, Curran had a life-sized statue of St. Jude, ironically from New York, home of the Yankees. But his brother-in-law was hesitant about putting the statue in one of his Boston restaurants. As a compromise, Curran's brother in law allowed the statue to be placed in a bar in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the hometown of the Red Sox Triple-A farm team.

They put the statue up, put some lights around it and hung a sign that read, "St. Jude bless the Red Sox. All donations go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital."

"And the Red Sox didn't lose a game after we did it," Curran said.

Through Curran's efforts, approximately $200 was raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, he said. And, of course, the Red Sox are the champions of baseball for the first time since 1918.